With an international break currently, Sunderland are not back in action until November 18 when they host Millwall in another crucial clash at the Stadium of Light.

Sitting bottom of the Championship, the hope is to get a new manager appointed as soon as possible, offering him ample time to get to know the players and work a little with them on the training ground ahead of that Millwall game.

At this stage, however, chief executive Martin Bain appears to be no closer to identifying the man he would like to take the hotseat.

But club ambassador Ball has moved to assure fans that there is no short of hard work going on behind the scenes to bring an end to the search.

Ball told ITV: “What I will say, and obviously I know because I still work full time at the club, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try and get the right man in for the job.

“That will be ongoing until such time that they find the right person.

“I think it’s natural of any supporter of any club, not just this one, that are in this sort of situation to be concerned. You can understand it.

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“But I can assure fans there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try and get the right person in as soon as possible.”

Former Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka is the current bookies’ favourite after his cryptic social media post on Wednesday evening.

However, the Spaniard is yet to hold talks with Sunderland about the role where he’d want assurances about financial backing from the club’s owner Ellis Short.